Garment hanger



Oct. 18, 1953 A, w. MBCCHARLES GARMENT HANGER Filed June 50, 1954 I NVENTOR fiRTHl/R 14 N/IC CHARLES United States Patent Ofiiice GARMENT HANGER Arthur W. MacCharles, Toronto, Ontario, Canada Application June 30, 1954, Serial No. 440,405 Claims. (Cl. 223-91) This invention relates to garment hangers and the principal object of the invention is to provide an extremely convenient form of hanger which will hold either mens or womens suits or other clothing in a desired manner to retain creases therein and to enable trousers and skirts to be firmly held without risk of creasing in an upright position.

A further and important object is to provide an extremely positive acting hanger which will securely grip and hold trousers, skirts or other garments which are desirably held in an upright position to preclude any possibility of the garments slipping from the hanger under their own weight.

A still further and important object is to provide a hanger which can be collapsed when not in use to facilitate packing and which will be extremely convenient when travelling.

The principal feature of the invention consists in providing a pair of parallel clamping bars hinged at one end and having flexible means of a length longer than the bars secured at one end to the hinged bar ends and carrying means at the other end to engage the free ends of the bars to force same into clamping engagement, the flexible means being provided with a supportengaging hook element secured adjacent the centre thereof, the flexible element and bars forming when supported by the hook a triangularshaped hanger with the clamping bars held in a horizontal position.

A further and important feature consists in forming the hanger clamping bars of a resilient material and providing the bars with an outward roll or curvature to increase the tension or clamping action produced when their free ends are clamped.

A still further feature consists in crinkling or corrugating the clamping bars to increase their clamping action.

Referring to the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a perspective view of a pair of clamping bars such as may be used in the construction of my hanger showing the bars hinged together at one end and formed with opposite curvatures.

Figure 2 is a perspective view of a hanger embodying my invention showing the clamping bars of a crinkled or corrugated formation and illustrating the manner in which the hanger may be used to support a suit.

Figure 3 is a part plan view of clamping bars similar to those shown in Figure 2 but showing an alternative form of hinge.

Figure 4 is a perspective view of an alternative form of hanger embodying my invention showing the hanger bars corrugated lengthwise.

Figure 5 is a vertical sectional view taken through the hanger bars shown in Figure 4.

The usual type of clothes hanger used to-day for hanging up suits comprises a triangular wire frame which serves as a sufiicient support for the coat but requires that the trousers or skirt of the suit be folded over the horizontal portion, resulting in undesirable creases along the fold line.

Patented Oct. 18, 1955 To ofiset this disadvantage certain forms of trouser hangers to grip the trouser cufis have been proposed. These hangers however have the disadvantage that in most cases they are not positive acting, and further the trousers are suspended upside-down, resulting in the contents of the pockets falling to the floor. Furthermore, with the weight of the trousers being located mostly adjacent the waist, there is a tendency to pull the creases out when held by the cuffs.

The present invention has accordingly been devised to overcome the above difficulties by providing an extremely convenient form of hanger which will enable a suit or other garment to be desirably supported with the trousers or skirt maintained in an upright position from which they will be safe against slipping or pulling loose under their own weight or the weight of objects located in the pockets thereof. My hanger arrangement thereby ensures that the contents of the pockets will not be spilled or discharged making it unnecessary to remove the contents of the pockets before hanging the garment.

With reference to the accompanying drawings, my hanger comprises a pair of clamping bars 1 which are pivotally connected at one end by a ring 2, as illustrated in Figures 1 and 2.

The bars 1 may be formed of any suitable resilient material, preferably a metal, the surface of which may be plated as desired.

Secured to the ring 2 is a link chain 3, to the centre links of which is secured a hook 4 and the free end of the chain carries a ring 5 adapted to fit over the free ends of the bars 1 which are provided with notches 6 in which the ring 5 is adapted to seat.

In Figure l the clamping bars 1 are shown as of a curved formation, each bar being curved in an opposite direction. Thus when the free or notched ends 7 are brought together a firm clamping tension is produced between the bars, particularly adjacent the central area.

In Figure 2 the bars are shown as corrugated with transverse corrugations 3 which, while not of sufiicient size to cause creasing of the garments to be held, provides a more efiicient clamping action than that produced by straight bars.

In the modified form of hanger shown in Figure 4, the bars 1 are provided with longitudinal ribs 9 to increase the clamping action and the chain 3 carries a case or hood 10 at each end thereof to engage the ends of the bars 1.

Figure 3 shows the bars 1, which are corrugated as shown in Figure 2, as being held together at one end by a hinge 11 in place of the ring 2. It will be understood of course that the bars 1 could also be formed of a single length bar doubled adjacent its centre.

In using my hanger as illustrated in Figure 2, the bars 1 are slipped through the belt loops or keepers 12 of the trousers 13 of a suit and the ring 5 is slipped over the free bar ends 7 and engages in the notches 6 formed therein, thus forcing the bars into tight clamping engagement with the trousers.

The hook 4 is then hooked over a suitable support 14 and under the weight of the bars 1 and the trousers the chain sections 15 either side of the hook will be pulled taut, and because of the symmetry of the construction the bars 1 will assume a horizontal position.

With the hanger thus supported the coat 16 of the suit is placed on the chain sections 15 which, under the tension, serve as rigid supports to hold the coat in the proper shape.

While the trousers 13 have the bars 1 passing through the belt loops or keepers, it will be understood that due to the clamping action of the bars the trousers may be firmly held at any point above or below the loops. Thus the trousers may be firmly held in an upright position with the belt still in the keepers orwith suspenders still in position, the curvature of the bars as shown in Figure 1 or the corrugations as shownin Figures 2 and 4 ensuring 'a very positive clamping action which will pre clude any possibility of the trousers from pulling free under their own Weight or under the weight of objects retained in the pockets.

Similarly a skirt can be conveniently clamped between the bars 1 and held in an upright freely hanging position to prevent creasing.

To enhance the appearance of the hanger the chain 3 and the hook 4 maybe chromium plated and the bars 1 may be formed of brass also chromium plated.

It willbe understood of course that while I have indicated the use ofa chain for supporting the clamping bars,

any suitable flexible connection may be used provided that its length is of -a greater length than the clamping bars and that the hook 4 is secured adjacent the centre thereof.

If appearance is a matter of prime consideration, the rings 2 and 5 holding the ends of the clamping bars are replaced with the hoods 10 which engage over the bars, j

as illustrated in Figure 4.

Other arrangements for clamping the bars together may a of course be used without departing from the scope of my invention.

It is important to note that while my hanger will support a complete suit the use of the chain 3 or other flexible element will permit the hanger when not in'us e to be collapsed to a size equal to the size of the clamping bars, thus permitting the hanger to be conveniently packed in the minimum of space.

My hanger will also prove of benefit in packing trunks where there is not room for full length garments to hang "freely, and the garment or dress, such as illustrated at 17,

can be folded over one of the bars 1 and clamped in fold position, thus shifting of the folded garment on the hanger will be prevented.

Due to the fact that my hanger will hold a complete suit the number of hangers required for a wardrobe is reduced, thus saving on the space occupied by the wardrobe.

From the foregoing therefore it will be appreciated that my hanger will prove extremely useful and will hold clothing without creasing and in the right-side-up position..

The importance is further enhanced by the fact that my hanger may be readily manufactured at a relatively low cost.

What I claim as my invention is:

l. A garment hanger comprising a pair of clamping elements shaped to thread through the belt keepers of a engaging the free ends of said clamping elements to force same into clamping engagement, flexible means extending between the endsof saidclamping elements and secured at the end remote from the connected ends of said clamping elements solely to said removable and engaging means, and support-engaging means secured to said flexible means adjacent the centre thereof.

2. A garment hanger comprising a pair of clamping elements hinged together at one end, flexible means 'secured adjacent one end to the hinged ends of said clamping elements, means secured adjacent the free end of said flexible means for engaging the free ends of said clamping elements to force same into clamping engagement, and a hook element secured to said flexible means adjacent the centre thereof.

3. A garment hanger comprising a pair of clamping bars, a ring connecting said bars adjacent one end thereof, a flexible element secured to said ring, a ring carried at the free end of said flexible element and adapted to engage over the free ends of said clamping bars, notches in the free ends of said clamping bars to receive said adjacent the free end of said flexible means for engaging the free ends of said clamping elements to force same into clamping engagement, and a hook secured to said flexible means intermediate the length thereof.

5. A garment hanger comprising a pair of longitudinal clamping bars of a size to thread through the belt keepers of a pair of trousers, means engaging the ends of said 7 clamping bars to hold same in clamped relation, a flexible element extending between said end engaging means and having a hook secured thereto intermediate the length thereof, at least one of said end engaging means being completely removable from said bars to permit the bars to be threaded through trouser belt keepers with facility.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 

